Upcoming coverage

The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com are publishing in-depth look at one member of the Class of 2012 each day through April 13. Up next:

Friday, April 6: The Famous Flames

And more

On Sunday, April 8, pop music critic John Soeder previews the new exhibit,"Grateful Dead: The Long, Strange Trip," opening at the Rock Hall.

On Friday, April 13, Friday magazine will feature an illustrated look at all 27 Rock Hall classes, plus a guide to the weekend's festivities.

The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com will also offer exclusive videos, photo galleries and other multimedia coverage during the run-up to the ceremony. We'll have special online coverage with all the preview stories, plus live coverage of all major concerts and other events during the 10 days leading up to the induction ceremony at Public Hall.

Gene Vincent, author and singer of the rockabilly classic "Be Bop A Lula," had an incendiary and tumultuous career. A revolving door of talented musicians helped forge his signature rocking sound. The first and most influential of this group of players were the Blue Caps.

Vincent was a contemporary of Elvis Presley. He was born Vincent Eugene Craddock in MundenPoint, Va., a stone's throw from the North Carolina border.

There are three versions of how "Be Bop A Lula" came to be written, but what is not in dispute is its importance in the history of rock 'n' roll.

Rock Hall President and CEO Terry Stewart doesn't remember the first time he heard the song, but he does remember its lasting effect.

"What I do remember is that first 'Welllllllllll . . .' and that echo," Stewart wrote in an email. [It] gave me shivers. Plus . . . having a girlfriend with the name Be Bop A Lulu was so cool."

A motorcycle accident while Vincent was in the Navy left him with a permanently damaged right leg. It would hamper him on stage and off throughout his relatively brief life and career. Vincent died at 36 in 1971 from complications of a bleeding ulcer.

Vincent counted on the Blue Caps to back him not only musically, but physically as well. They were renowned for their boisterous showmanship. They inspired the kind of stage antics that performers like Jimi Hendrix and the Who would take to absurdly greater heights.

Drummer Dickie Harrell, 71; guitarist Tommy Facenda, 72; guitarist Johnny Meeks, 74; and bass player Bobby Jones, 78, were all Blue Caps for a time, but when Vincent was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, their important contributions to his career -- and "Be Bop A Lula" -- were overlooked. This year, the Rock Hall is seeking to correct that mistake by finally inducting the Blue Caps, along with other overlooked backingbands, including the Crickets (Buddy Holly), the Famous Flames (James Brown), the Miracles (Smokey Robinson), the Comets (Bill Haley) and the Midnighters (HankBallard).

All four surviving Blue Caps plan to attend the Rock Hall induction ceremony Saturday, April 14, in Cleveland.

"It's a great, great honor," said Meeks, who lives in Laurens, N.C., and still performs regularly as a solo act.

"There was nobody like [Vincent]. He had a bum leg, but he was as active as he could be. He'd go down on one knee. He wanted a lot of action. The band going wild on stage was all his idea. He said we had to be his arms and legs."

There was a high turnover among the Blue Caps. Meeks said it had nothing to do with Vincent, his management style or personality. In fact, he can sum it up in one word.

"Wives," said Meeks. "The original band was older guys who had more settled lives and families. The wives didn't want their husbands out on the road for months on end. And the work was hard. One-nighter after one-nighter. Same set every night then back to the motel."

There was also the question of after-show parties and rock 'n' roll-crazed teenage girls.

"We called them motel auditions," said Meeks. "That certainly went on. I participated in my share. I won't lie. I never had any complaints."

Meeks would go on to play with artists such as country stars Merle Haggard and Red Rhodes, and teen crooner Jimmy Clanton. He was a regular at the Palomino Club in Hollywood and was in the movie "Roustabout" with Presley.

Blue CapFacenda had been a friend of Harrell's and played rhythm guitar for Vincent.

"Nobody goes on forever," said Facenda from his home in Portsmouth, Va. "We know that. So what better honor than this to go out on. Something like this makes it all worthwhile. Gene would be awfully happy. Gene always wanted the Blue Caps to be with him."

Facenda was also grateful for those who helped lobby the band into the Rock Hall.

"I know that Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Paul McCartney all went to bat for us," he said. "What's been so great about this career is that not only did we get to meet everybody, we got to play with everybody."

Facenda, who left the Blue Caps to record the novelty hit "High School USA," remembers the crazy crowds.

"We did a charity show in New York at a stadium with 80,000 kids. They tore my clothes off and left me standing there in my underwear hollering for my mother. They even took my high school ring right off my finger."

At 71, Harrell calls himself an "antique." But he was 15 and the youngest member of the band when he joined the Blue Caps as their drummer. He played with the band for a year and a half.

"This is something I never thought would happen," Harrell said in a phone interview from his home in Portsmouth, Va. "I feel like there are a lot more talented, worthy musicians than me that deserve this. I want to mention Cliff Gallup, "Wee" Willie Williams, Jack Neal and Paul Peek, who also played with Gene before we did. They really helped create that special sound of his. They deserve mention."

Harrell was the band's cut-up and free spirit. If you listen to the original, fevered recording of "Be Bop A Lula," you can hear him shrieking with delight at the 38 second mark. He remembers it well.

"Ken Nelson and Owen Bradley produced the record. I was always the nut in that group. When I screamed during that take they kept the tape rolling. Later, listening to it, they asked why I did that. Gene liked it. He said let's keep it. We drove Ken Nelson crazy."

Harrell has all the respect in the world for the leader of the band. He said the late, great Vincent had dedication and work ethic that were off the chart. Harrell said Vincent was in real pain about 90 percent of the time when they were together.

"I remember one time his leg hurt so bad . . . he was laying in the bed and his leg was shaking," he said. "He still went on stage that night and played the show."

For Harrell, the honor is not just being a part of rock history, but also being connected to rock's present and future, too.

"This is a real big deal for all of us. I got an email congratulating me from Max Weinberg. He's a big fan of rockabilly. I know he's a busy guy. So that made me feel real good."